Supreme Court judgement: Atiku to address press, Monday

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar has disclosed that he will address a World Press Conference at the party’s National Secretariat in Abuja, Monday.

Atiku is expected to officially react to the judgement of the Supreme Court of last Thursday which dismissed his appeals challenging the ruling of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) that had affirmed President Bola Tinubu as winner of the February 25, 2023 election.

According to a press statement on Saturday, the former Vice President would also address issues of national concerns.

This is coming after the Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against the ruling of the PEPC that upheld the victory of President Bola Tinubu in the 2023 Presidential election.

This announcement which was made on the verified X (formerly known as twitter ) account of the PDP reads;

“The Presidential Candidate of our great Party, the @OfficialPDPNig, in the February 25, 2023 Presidential election and former Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar, GCON, Wazirin Adamawa, @atiku will address a crucial Press Conference on issues of serious importance to the Nation.”

It would be recalled that Atiku had earlier this month stated that his challenge of Tinubu’s victory will end at the apex court when he declared that ‘Nigerians are the Supreme Court.’

Already, the PDP had rejected the Supreme Court judgement which reaffirmed Tinubu as winner of the presidential election, describing the ruling as condoning ‘forgery, falsehood, perjury on the altar of technicalities.’

The main opposition, Thursday, which described the Supreme Court judgment as ‘disappointing and concerning,’ wondered how the apex court sidestepped what it termed ‘serious issues of forgery, falsehood and perjury on the altar of technicalities’

PDP, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba and issued in reaction to the judgement delivered by the Supreme Court in the appeal filed by Atiku, Thursday, further expressed dismay over the apex court’s failure to ‘uphold the provisions of the law.’

It would be recalled that the Supreme Court had dismissed the all the grounds of appeal filed by both appellants; Atiku of the PDP and Mr Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) in the aftermath of the Presidential Election and Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) judgement of last month following the disputed February 25, 2023 election.

In its judgement, the seven-man panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro dismissed the appeals by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart Peter Obi.

While Obi filed 51 grounds of appeal, Atiku followed with 35 at the Supreme Court.

A seven-judge panel ruled as without merit the opposition appeals over claims of fraud, electoral law violations, and Tinubu’s ineligibility to run for president.

The apex court thrashed all the grounds of appeal of Atiku and PDP on qualification, non-compliance with the Electoral Act, the 25% votes in FCT, and electoral malpractices.

“On the whole, having resolved all the issues against the appellant, it is my view that there is no merit in the appeal and it is hereby dismissed,” Justice Inyang Okoro said in dismissing Atiku’s appeal.

“The judgment of the court below delivered on September 6th, 2023 affirming the election of the second respondent as the duly elected President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is hereby affirmed.”

It listened to Obi’s appeal for about five minutes. In dealing with the LP’s presidential candidate on the issue of double nomination of Vice-President Kashim Shettima, the court held that the issue had been dealt with in its ruling on May 26.

“As for issue Number 4 which has to do with double nomination which was not in Atiku’s appeal, it is the view of this court that this issue having been dealt with by this court, this court cannot allow the matter to be re-litigated in this very court. There must be an end to litigation,” Justice Okoro held.

“For us to sit down now and talk about when this man resigned or did not resign when they did fresh primaries to replace him which we have done before, we are not going to do this again.

“This matter ought not to have come in. When this matter was pending at the trial court, this court delivered that judgment. If you read the judgment of the lower court, they mentioned that the Supreme Court has settled this matter and that should have been the end.

“You now bring this issue of double nomination for us to sit on it and write another judgment, this is not how it should be. This appeal lacks merit and is hereby dismissed,” Justice Okoro ruled.

The apex court also affirmed that other panel members agreed with the lead judgment delivered by John Okoro, in dismissing Atiku’s appeal and challenging the judgment of the presidential petition tribunal.

Meanwhile, the PDP in its reaction said it is ‘appalled by the judgment of the Supreme Court in the petition filed by the PDP and Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar against the declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Bola Ahmed Tinubu as winners of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

“The PDP and indeed majority of Nigerians are alarmed, disappointed and gravely concerned with the reasoning of the Supreme Court which the PDP believes is against the express provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act, 2022, the Guideline and Regulation issued by INEC under which the election was conducted.

“The PDP asserts that it is indeed a sad commentary for our democracy that the Supreme Court failed to uphold the provisions of the law. Instead, it trashed the expectation of majority of Nigerians who looked up to it as a Temple of Impartiality to deliver substantial justice in the matter having regards to the laws and facts of the case.

“Nigerians earnestly expected the Supreme Court to uphold and defend the clear provisions of the 1999 Constitution in terms of qualification and minimum requirement for a winner to be declared in a Presidential election in Nigeria especially with regards to the required statutory 25% of votes in the FCT as well as issues of violation of electoral Rules and Guidelines, brazen manipulations and alterations of election results by the APC.

“Nigerians are still at a loss as to how the Supreme Court condoned the serious issues of forgery, falsehood and perjury on the altar of technicalities.  

“The general gloom, melancholy and sense of despondency across the country upon the delivery of the judgment is an ominous sign of eerie situation which portend grave consequences because of the disappointment embedded in the judgment.

“This judgment by the Supreme Court has evidently shaken the confidence of Nigerians in the judiciary, especially the Supreme Court as the last hope of the common man.

“The PDP remains undeterred and charges Nigerians not to be discouraged or allow the judgment to detract from their collective quest for the entrenchment of a credible electoral system that can guarantee a government that truly derive its legitimacy from the people,” the party said.